Continuous stack feeder and method

ABSTRACT

In the continuous feeding from a stack, the entire stack is advanced horizontally without interruption toward a cutter which incessantly slices the material from the leading end of the stack and, at all times as the slice gravitates in a constant flow from the cutter, it is steadily removed at a rate to avoid buildup beneath the cutter, and immediately discharged in a ceaseless stream to a point or area of discharge. In order to effect cutting of the stack throughout its entire transverse crosssectional area from side to side and top to bottom, the cutter is caused to sweep along a polygonal path that corresponds essentially in shape to the transverse, peripheral configuration of the stack. The cut is on an inclined plane and the cutter opens the kerf as it travels in order to deflect the slice away from the stack, all for the purpose of assuring a steady, uniform gravitation of the cutaway material to a lateral conveyor beneath the cutter. The cutter is also rotated continuously while it sweeps through the stack, and is canted to present a leading bite so as to avoid drag on the stack along the trailing portions of the cutter.

United States Patent [1 Brooks et al.

[ Nov. 20, 1973 CONTINUOUS STACK FEEDER AND METHOD [75] Inventors: DeanP. Brooks, Hesston; John Dale Anderson, Canton, both of Kans.

[73] Assignee: Hesston Corporation, Hesston,

Kans.

22 Filed: Dec. 20, 1971 211 App]. No.: 209,599

Primary ExaminerWillie G. Abercrombie Attorney-Schmidt, Johnson, Hovey &Williams [5 7 ABSTRACT In the continuous feeding from a stack, theentire stack is advanced horizontally without interruption toward acutter which incessantly slices the material from the leading end of thestack and, at all times as the slice gravitates in a constant flow fromthe cutter, it is steadily removed at a rate to avoid buildup beneaththe cutter, and immediately discharged in a ceaseless stream to a pointor area of discharge. In order to effect cutting of the stack throughoutits entire transverse cross-sectional area from side to side and top tobottom, the cutter is caused to sweep along a polygonal path thatcorresponds essentially in shape to the transverse, peripheralconfiguration of the stack. The cut is on an inclined plane and thecutter opens the kerf as it travels in order to deflect the slice awayfrom the stack, all for the purpose of assuring a steady, uniformgravitation of the cutaway material to a lateral conveyor beneath thecutter. The cutter is also rotated continuously while it sweeps throughthe stack, and is canted to present a leading bite so as to avoid dragon the stack along the trailing portions of the cutter.

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PATENTED NOV 2 0 i973 l I I H INVENTORS. Dean P. Broo ks BY John DaleAnderson CONTINUOUS STACK FEEDER AND METHOD An important object of thepresnet invention is to provide for the feeding of hay or the like froma stack in a manner to permit discharge continuously either along theground for open range livestock feeding, into rows of feed bunks or intogrinders or other further processing equipment.

Another important object of the instant invention is the provision offeeding from a stack that is elevated onto a vehicle, permittingtransport of the stack to a point or area of discharge, and if desired,movement of tha stack as the material is delivered therefrom in acontinuous stream.

Still another important object of our present invention is to provide astack feeder which is capable of not only cutting the material away fromthe stack but removing the material as it is cut away, all withoutinterruption or slowdown as the result of clogging, jamming oroverloading any of the operating mechanisms.

A further important object of our instant invention is to provide afeeder operable to quickly slice the material away from one end of astack that is continuously advanced at a rate which will minimize thetime necessary to carry out the operation of feeding the entire stack.

A still further important object of the present invention is to providea cutter arrangement which effectively cuts entirely through the stackduring each sweep of the cutter, and which will properly deliver theremoved material to a lateral conveyor in a continuous, smoothly flowingstream from the moment of cutaway to the time of final discharge.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a continuous stackfeeder made according to the present invention capable of carrying outthe novel method hereinafter set forth, showing the cutter at itscentral, fully raised and fully lowered positions;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view thereof showing three positions ofthe cutter-as it ascends, then moves horizontally and thereafterdescends;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary top plan view showing portions of thefeeder tilted back to dispose the same horizontally;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3with parts disposed as in full lines in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the bottom of the cutter;

FIG. 7 is a view showing the top of the cutter;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of that side of the sweep armsopposite from FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatical view illustrating the cycle of movement ofthe sweep arms and the cutter.

A chassis 12, supported by a wheel and axle assembly 14, has a tongue 16which supports a mast l8 and a brace 20 provided with a rigid,downwardly and rearwardly inclined sleeve 22 at their upper ends. Atubular shaft 24, rotatable within the sleeve 22, and rotatablysupporting a second shaft 26 coaxially therein, is affixed at its lowerend to one end of an elongated, tubular arm 28.

A drive shaft 30, which may be driven from the power take-off shaft of atractor coupled with the tongue 16, drives the shaft 26 through a beltand pulley assembly 32 between the shafts 26 and 30. A pair ofjackshafts 34 and 36 are carried by the mast 18, the shaft 34 beingdriven by a chain and sprocket wheel unit 38 between shafts 26 and 34,the shaft 36 being driven by a chain and sprocket wheel unit 40 betweenthe shafts 34 and 36, and the shaft 24 being driven by a chain andsprocket wheel unit 42 between the shafts '24 and 36 such that the shaft24 rotates appreciably slower than the shaft 26.

The arm 28 has a stub shaft 44 rotatably mounted thereon at its oppositeend, and a short, tubular arm 46 is rotatable at one end thereof on theshaft 44, the shafts 26 and 44 being interconnected by a chain andsprocket wheel unit 48 within the arm 28. A jackshaft 50 intermediatethe ends of the arm 28 is coupled with the sleeve 22 through a chain andsprocket wheel unit 52, and with the arm 46 through a chain and sprocketwheel unit 54.

The arm 46 has a stub shaft 56 rotatably mounted thereon at its oppositeend, and a tubular hub 58 of a cutter 60 is secured rigidly to the shaft56. The hub 58 has a disc 62 affixed thereto adjacent the arm 46, andthe shafts 44 and 56 are interconnected by a chain and sprocket wheelunit 64 within the arm 46.

A cutter 60 has a hollow, frustoconical body 66 secured at its apex tothe hub 58 and provided with an outwardly radiating, circular band 68 atits base, the band having an annular series of cutter elements 70secured thereto at its periphery.

The chassis 12 supports a number of transversely spaced, longitudinalbeams 72 for vertical swinging movement about a horizontal axis (notshown) disposed intermediate the ends of the beams 72, and a conveyorchain 74 associated with each beam 72 is driven by a transverse shaft 76that may in turn be driven in any suitable manner (not shown) from theshaft 30 or otherwise. Immediately ahead of the chains 74 below thecutter 60 is a transverse conveyor 78 carried by the chassis l2,and/orthe tongue 1-6 and driven by the shaft 30. Upstanding side shields 80carried by the chassis 12 have outwardly flared wings 82 at theirrearmost, upright edges.

OPERATION The vehicle illustrated may be backed toward a haystack or thelike and the beams 72 with their chains 74 are tilted to place theirrearmost ends (not shown) adjacent the ground. The chains 74 are thendriven 'to load the stack, all in a manner similar to U. S. letters Pat.No. 3,209,932 in the name of Bruce A. Schiltz and dated Oct. 5, 1965,which patent is incorporated herein by reference as need may be for afull understanding of the present invention. Upon return of the beams 72to the horizontal position shown in FIGS. 1' and 2, the implement withthe stack 83 (FIG. I) thereon may be moved to a point of discharge,whereupon the shaft 30 is driven to rotate the cutter 60 and to operatethe conveyor 78. At the same time, the chains 74 are operated toprogressively move the stack 83 toward the cutter 60.

The shaft 30 drives the assembly 32 to rotate the shaft 26, drive theunit 48, rotate the shaft 44, drive the unit 64, rotate the shaft 56 andthe hub 58, thereby rotating the cutter 60 continuously about the axisof the shaft 56. Shaft 26 drives the unit 38 to rotate the shaft.

34, drive the unit 40, rotate the shaft 36, drive the unit 42, rotatethe shaft 24, and revolve the arm 28 continuously about the common axisof the shafts 24 and 26;

As the shaft 50 revolves about stationary sprocket wheel 84 of the unit52 (which is rigid to the fixed sleeve 22), the shaft 50 is rotated bythe unit 52 to drive the unit 54 and revolve the arm 46 continuouslyabout the axis of the shaft 44.

The hay sliced off the stack 83 by the cutter elements 70 falls onto theconveyor 78 which feeds the hay continuously into feed bunks, onto theground in the case of range feeding of livestock, or into grinders orother equipment for further processing, it being understood that thevehicle may be advanced continuously or intermittently as desired orneeded during continuous operation of the chains 74, the cutter 60 andthe conveyor wardly and forwardly as the conveyor 78 is approached, suchplane being, therefore, substantially parallel with the mast 18. Thiscauses the hay being sliced away to slide properly along the convex faceof the body 66 and to gravitate immediately to the conveyor 78 ratherthan build up in large accumulations before dropping as might be true ifthe mast 18 were vertical and the cut slice not caused to movedownwardly at an angle somewhat parallel with the inclined mast 18. Thetilt also causes the remnant of the stack 83 to be more stable as thetrailing end of the stack 83 approaches the cutter 60. The disc 62operates to prevent entanglement of the hay on the arm 46 and in theunit 54.

In addition, the cutter 60 has still another inclination which is bestillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6-8, showing an angularity between the axesof the shafts 24 and 44. The axes of the shafts 44 and 56 beingparallel, it is seen that the hub 58 also rotates about an axis that isoffset relative to the common axis of the shafts 24 and 26. The arm 28has a wall 86 proximal to the brace 20 which is perpendicular to theaxis of rotation of the shafts 24 and 26, and an opposed wall 88proximal to the arm 46 which is perpendicular to the axes of rotation ofthe shafts 44 and 56. But the walls 86 and 88 are out of parallelismtransversely thereof; therefore, bearing 90 of the shaft 44 is mountedon the wall 86 at an angle relative to the latter.

This out of parallelism arrangement is in a direction to establish acant in the cutter 60 such that it slopes toward the kerf formed in thestack 83 by the cutter elements 70. That is to say, the cutter 60 has abite which causes severance by only the leading cutter elements 70 asthey sweep through their inclined plane, whereas the trailing cutterelements 70 recede away from the sliced end 91 of the stack throughoutthe entire cycle of movement of the cutter 60 about the axis of theshaft 44 and about the axis of the shafts 24 and 26. The inclined planethrough which the trailing elements 70 sweep is therefore parallel tothe plane of the leading elements 70, but spaced away from the end 91 ofthe stack 83. j V

As a consequence, the arrangement may be such that only about one halfof the cutter elements 70 are actually operating to slice the hay at anygiven moment, and such that there is no such pressure or counter-drag ofthe stack 83 against the oppositely moving, receded half of the-elementsalong the receded portion of the cutter 60.

Moreover, the convex side of the body 66 of the cutter 60 is constantlyopening the kerf at the receded side of the cutter 60, causing thespiral slice being cutaway from the stack 83 to be deflected toward thedisc 62 such that the slice will drop onto the conveyor 78 rather thanfall against end 91 of the stack 83 where gravitation of the slice willbe impeded. Manifestly, the cutaway slice will slide downwardly alongthe convex face of the body 66' much easier than down the inclined end91 of the stack 83. These factors all contribute, therefore, to avoid apinch between the end 91 of the advancing stack 83 and the slice becausethe weight and friction of the latter are on the body 66 rather than onthe stack 83.

By provision of the arms 28 and 46, it is possible to feed from apolygonal stack 83 whose vertical and transverse dimensions (height andwidth) are appreciably greater than the diameter of the cutter 60 while,at the same time, properly cut through the core and through all fourcomers of the stack 83. As depicted in FIG. 10, the continuouslyrotating cutter 60 not only has a rather long sweep as it revolves aboutthe axes of the shafts 24 and 2,6 but, at the same time, it alsorevolves about the axis of the shaft 44. In effect then, the cutter 60moves along a generally polygonal path of travel. While the movement ofthe cutter 60 is not truly linear, either vertically or horizontally,its path is sufficiently square as to out along substantially the entirecross-sectional area of the stack 83 confronted by the elements 70.

As the arm 28 revolves in the direction of the arrow 92 in FIG. 10, thearm 46 revolves oppositely four times as fast as the arm 28 as indicatedby arrows 94 in FIG. 10. Thus, the path of the shaft 56 as shown in FIG.10 is essentially along the dash lines which form a square configuration96, such that the cutter 60 moves horizontally from left to right alongthe top of the stack 83, descends through an inclined path along oneside of the stack 83, horizontally from right to left along the bottomof the stack 83 and then ascends through an inclined path along theopposite side of the stack 83.

The outer peripheral path of the cutter 60 also defines a substantialsquare whose dimensions exceed the width and height of the stack 83, itbeing noted in FIG. 1 that the upper limit of the cutter 60 is above thetop of the stack 83 and that its lower limit is below the bottom of thestack 83, but above the conveyor 78. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the outerperiphery of the cutter 60 is between the sides of the stack 83 and theshields during ascent and descent of the cutter 60.

Manifestly, the diameter of the cutter 60 in relation to the distancebetween the axes of the shafts 24 and 44, the distance between the axesof the shafts 44 and 56 and the height and width of the stack 83 ischosen to effect complete cutting, not only at the center of the stack83 when the arm 46 fully overlaps the arm 28, but at the four comers ofthe stack 83 when the arm 46 is fully extended beyond the arm 28 asshown in FIG. 10. Advancement of the stack 83 by the chains 74 andlateral movement of the slice by the conveyer 78 is continued until theentire stack 83 is cut away and fed to the selected zone of dischargefrom the conveyor 78.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for continuously feeding material from a stack thereof:

conveyor means underlying the stack for continuously advancing thelatter along a substantially horizontal path of travel;

a support spaced forwardly of the leading end of said stack;

means for rotating said support within an upwardly extending plane; and

a cutter rotatably mounted on the support between the latter and saidend of the stack for movement of the cutter with the support around theaxis of rotation of the support,

the axis of rotation of the cutter extending toward said end of thestack and being at an angle to said axis of rotation of the support.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the path of travel of thecutter around said axis of rotation of the support is within a planeparallel with said plane of rotation of the support.

3. In a machine for feeding material from a stack thereof:

an elongated arm mounted at one end thereof for rotation about a firstaxis;

a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the arm at the opposite end of thelatter for revolution with the arm about said first axis and forrotation with respect to the arm about a second axis spaced radiallyoutwardly from said first axis; and

means operably coupled with the arm and with the cutter for rotating thesame simultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof,

said axes being out of parallelism in a direction to establish a cant inthe cutter such that the cutter slopes toward the kerf formed thereby inthe stack.

4. In a machine for feeding material from a stack thereof:

an elongated arm mounted at one end thereof for rotation about a firstaxis;

a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the arm at the opposite end of thelatter for revolution with the arm about said first axis and forrotation with respect to the arm about a second axis spaced radiallyoutwardly from said first axis; and

means operably coupled with the arm and with the cutter for rotating thesame simultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof,

said axes sloping downwardly toward the stack such that the cuttersevers an inclined slice from the stack.

5. In a machine for feeding material from a stack thereof:

an elongated arm mounted at one end thereof for rotation about a firstaxis;

a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the arm at the opposite end of thelatter for revolution with the arm about said first axis and forrotation with respect to the arm about a second axis spaced radiallyoutwardly from said first axis;

means operably coupled with the arm and with the cutter for rotating thesame simultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof; and

a pair of shafts operably coupled with the arm and with the cutterrespectively, said first axis being common to said shafts, said meansoperating to rotate the shafts at differential speeds.

6. In a machine for feeding material from a stack thereof:

a first elongated arm mounted at one end thereof for rotation about afirst axis;

a second elongated arm mounted on the first arm at the opposite end ofthe latter for revolution with the first arm about said first axis andfor rotation with respect to the first arm about a second axis spacedradially outwardly from said first axis;

a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the second arm at the opposite end ofthe latter for revolution with the second arm about said second axis andfor rotation with respect to the second arm about a third axis spacedradially outwardly from said second axis; and

means operably coupled with the arms and with the cutter for rotatingthe same simultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6, said second and third axes beingparallel.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 6; and a pair of shafts operablycoupled with the arm and with the cutter respectively, said first axisbeing common to said shafts, said means operating to rotate the shaftsat differential speeds.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein rotation of the second arm isresponsive to rotation of the first arm.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein said first arm is rigid toone of said shafts and rotation of the second arm is responsive torotation of said one shaft.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein two of said axes are out ofparallelism in a direction to establish a cant in the cutter such thatthe cutter slopes toward the kerf formed thereby in the stack.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11 wherein said axes slope downwardlytoward the stack such that the cutter severs an inclined slice from thestack.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 12 wherein said cutter has a circularband surrounding said third axis and provided with a plurality of spacedcutter elements at its periphery.

1. In a machine for continuously feeding material from a stack thereof:conveyor means underlying the stack for continuously advancing thelatter along a substantially horizontal path of travel; a support spacedforwardly of the leading end of said stack; means for rotating saidsupport within an upwardly extending plane; and a cutter rotatablymounted on the support between the latter and said end of the stack formovement of the cutter with the support around the axis of rotation ofthe support, the axis of rotation of the cutter extending toward saidend of the stack and being at an angle to said axis of rotation of thesupport.
 2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the path of travelof the cutter arouNd said axis of rotation of the support is within aplane parallel with said plane of rotation of the support.
 3. In amachine for feeding material from a stack thereof: an elongated armmounted at one end thereof for rotation about a first axis; astack-engaging cutter mounted on the arm at the opposite end of thelatter for revolution with the arm about said first axis and forrotation with respect to the arm about a second axis spaced radiallyoutwardly from said first axis; and means operably coupled with the armand with the cutter for rotating the same simultaneously about saidrespective axes of rotation thereof, said axes being out of parallelismin a direction to establish a cant in the cutter such that the cutterslopes toward the kerf formed thereby in the stack.
 4. In a machine forfeeding material from a stack thereof: an elongated arm mounted at oneend thereof for rotation about a first axis; a stack-engaging cuttermounted on the arm at the opposite end of the latter for revolution withthe arm about said first axis and for rotation with respect to the armabout a second axis spaced radially outwardly from said first axis; andmeans operably coupled with the arm and with the cutter for rotating thesame simultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof, saidaxes sloping downwardly toward the stack such that the cutter severs aninclined slice from the stack.
 5. In a machine for feeding material froma stack thereof: an elongated arm mounted at one end thereof forrotation about a first axis; a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the armat the opposite end of the latter for revolution with the arm about saidfirst axis and for rotation with respect to the arm about a second axisspaced radially outwardly from said first axis; means operably coupledwith the arm and with the cutter for rotating the same simultaneouslyabout said respective axes of rotation thereof; and a pair of shaftsoperably coupled with the arm and with the cutter respectively, saidfirst axis being common to said shafts, said means operating to rotatethe shafts at differential speeds.
 6. In a machine for feeding materialfrom a stack thereof: a first elongated arm mounted at one end thereoffor rotation about a first axis; a second elongated arm mounted on thefirst arm at the opposite end of the latter for revolution with thefirst arm about said first axis and for rotation with respect to thefirst arm about a second axis spaced radially outwardly from said firstaxis; a stack-engaging cutter mounted on the second arm at the oppositeend of the latter for revolution with the second arm about said secondaxis and for rotation with respect to the second arm about a third axisspaced radially outwardly from said second axis; and means operablycoupled with the arms and with the cutter for rotating the samesimultaneously about said respective axes of rotation thereof.
 7. Amachine as claimed in claim 6, said second and third axes beingparallel.
 8. A machine as claimed in claim 6; and a pair of shaftsoperably coupled with the arm and with the cutter respectively, saidfirst axis being common to said shafts, said means operating to rotatethe shafts at differential speeds.
 9. A machine as claimed in claim 6wherein rotation of the second arm is responsive to rotation of thefirst arm.
 10. A machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein said first arm isrigid to one of said shafts and rotation of the second arm is responsiveto rotation of said one shaft.
 11. A machine as claimed in claim 6wherein two of said axes are out of parallelism in a direction toestablish a cant in the cutter such that the cutter slopes toward thekerf formed thereby in the stack.
 12. A machine as claimed in claim 11wherein said axes slope downwardly toward the stack such that the cuttersevers an inclined slice from the stack.
 13. A machine as claimed inclaim 12 wherein said cutter Has a circular band surrounding said thirdaxis and pro-vided with a plurality of spaced cutter elements at itsperiphery.